Islamic heads condemn call for ‘Muslim village’

THREE Muslim organisations have roundly condemned Islamic scholar Imran Hosein’s call for establishing a “Muslim village” as a means of escaping crime and lawlessness. Yacoob Ali, president general of the Anjuman Sunat-ul-Jamaat Association (ASJA), described the idea as one that was “totally misconceived.” The ASJA could not support, Ali said, isolation of the Muslim community in a multi-racial and multi-ethnic society like Trinidad and Tobago. “ASJA proposes not separation,” Ali added, “but integration.”

Hosein, an Islamic scholar, announced at the San Fernando Technical Institute, commencement of the Muslim village, the proposed site being Gran Couva. Hosein, a former diplomat, said he believed the time had come for Muslims to combat crime and “evil” by living in their own village. Saying such a move was divisive, Ali told Newsday Muslims were a minority in this country and there should be no attempt to further alienate them.    Maulana Waffie Mohammed, former senator and director of the Muslim World League, viewed the idea as one which counteracts the mission of Islam. “Muslims living among non-Muslims are able to present Islam in a practical way. They see what Islam stands for and in this regard, the Prophet is reported to have said that a Muslim is a missionary,” Mohammed said.

To isolate oneself, Mohammed added, was contrary to the brotherhood of Islam. Hosein has advocated that the Muslim village would operate its own value system in which people would have to abide by a code of conduct. Mohammed said, however, that it was a blessing for Muslims to live among non-Muslims and make an impact on them with their (Muslims) own values and standard of living. Former president of the Trinidad Muslim League, Nasser Mustapha, expressed the view that Muslims could not afford to live in the confines of their own village. They do not have the resources and are too interdependent on the other institutions in society, Mustapha said, to isolate themselves.